MindWanderer

Every eclectic take on the tune, though keeping in that same dark atmospheric tone. Tons of variation to simple source material, that always keeps the track moving. Fantastic performances. I did feel like the climax was a little weak. 2:30 introduces a piercing LFO lead that causes the whole track to pump while it warbles in and out. The 808-style snares here sound radically out of place with the rest of the sound palette, and I found them jarring. Everything else sounded clear and well-considered, though the Bond guitars were an odd choice. Overall an easy YES

I have to concur with the above. The approach is neat, but the harsh and loud melodica is an issue. And even though you do make use of three themes, the arrangement is only 2:40 long and leans heavily on the Water Island hook, the backing is repetitive (admittedly, intentionally), and the ending fades out, all of which combine to make the track feel underdeveloped. The judges above gave you some good advice, not the least of which was to hit up our workshop forum/Discord for more involved feedback, and I hope you take it to heart. NO

I'm with proph on this one, to the point where I'm not even sure I listened to the same track as Larry and Kris, and checked the thread to see if there was an update I missed. On my setup, the kick is loud and clear, and the snare even moreso. The trumpet sounds great, full stop. There's plenty of high end, whether it's being created by a synth or the trumpet. On the other hand, I definitely do hear the complaints about the whistle: it's a little shrill, and when it's not exposed, all its harmonics are being squeezed and it sounds pretty bland. The saw that starts at 1:42 is also overpowering. The guitar is indeed pretty quiet, and it's a shame the fairly vanilla synths were used when you had access to such a great alternative lead. The piercing leads are the only major concern I have, and they're not remotely worth sending this back, From, me, this gets a wholehearted YES Update 6/20: I listened to this again on my good headphones, and I have a better appreciation for what everyone else is saying about the kicks. The bass and kicks overlap a lot in the subbass range, and that makes them a lot harder to hear. On headphones with less bass response, the kicks are covered up less. That said, the kicks are usually doubled up with the snare, which provides enough rhythm for me, and it's not like the soundscape needs the kick's bass presence. Oddly, I think the harmonics on that deep bass are also what's conflicting with the trumpet a little---which is not how physics is supposed to work, but it's what I hear. No change to my vote.

I'm afraid I have to agree with all the criticisms above. The flute is painfully loud and bright, the clarinet performance is squeaky, the soundscape is thin and lacking in character, and the overall arrangement is short and underdeveloped. That's not to say I dislike everything here! The non-clarinet performances are solid, the concept is very good, and the arrangement that is there is well-done. The flute riffing is a highlight. But the issues mentioned above are critical ones. NO

This would be a Direct Post if we were still doing DPs. Fantastic use of the least interesting track on the OST, as a simple foundation to basically do whatever the hell you wanted. And hey, when you give a bunch of geniuses some raw material, turns out they can build something great out of it. Truly stellar metal performances and production. I do have some tiny nitpicks. The drums are a little loud, and them plus the overdriven guitar sometimes drown out some of the accompanying elements, like the guitar at 0:53. The ending is lackluster. The whole thing is just a little disjointed; it's nice that it's so variable and interesting, but I think it pushes past that to get a little schizophrenic. Stiil, as I said, tiny nitpicks and an easy vote, as promised. YES

Nice rich soundscape to open up with. The evil Macarena influence follows, although the tone is so unexpected that it can be hard to pick up on it depending on whether you're listening for it. I imagine many listeners won't catch it until the lyrics at the end and will have to listen to it a second time. Good thing we recently revised our rules about referencing non-VGM music, or this might not have been allowed. You can tell that this is a compo mash-up, unfortunately. Mad Forest and the SM boss theme are both used to build this, but they don't really interact, they just take turns. I'd ding it points for that when it came to voting in the compo, but that's by no means disqualifying here. Still, this is super creative, not something I'd ever imagine existing. Fantastic work. YES

For never having written a jazz piece, this sounds pretty fantastic. A little less cerebral than people who do a lot of jazz often get, but that's a plus for me. Fantastic sample usage that could fool most listeners into thinking it was a studio recording; it doesn't quite sound like a live lounge like the crowd noises suggest, but it still sounds great. The integration of Environmental Mystery can never be anything but a weird choice, but you at least made it sounds like it was your weird choice and not that it was forced on you by the compo format. The last couple of measures really made it work. Fantastic job. YES

This is an odd one for me. The integration of the two sources is very smooth, in no small part because they're similar in tone to begin with. And I would say that this remix maintains that same tone, if not for the trap trappings. The sound palette is extremely simple, even primitive, but the synths are chosen carefully and used appropriately. 2:15-2:38 is the most problematic part, because the vanilla sounds aren't adequate to carry the sinister tone you're going for here, and it just sounds discordant. I think this would have benefited from more modern sound design, but what's used here isn't disqualifying. Due to the samples, I wouldn't call this a layup, but everything else about it is done quite well. YES

I've been waffling on this one for a while. It's a clever and passionate blend of the four sources, with a lot of consideration going into it. While there's nothing hugely objectionable about it, there are a few things holding back. The sound design doesn't change up much over the course of the 5½ minute arrangement; although there are a number of instruments and a few SFX used, the synths are pretty vanilla and same-y. The saw "bass" (which sits pretty high for a bass) in particular is overused, and the kick/snare/hat are nearly omnipresent as well. The overall energy doesn't change much, either, nor does the soundscape. It gets a little noodly and uncoordinated in places, too. Despite using 4 sources, I find myself losing interest by the halfway mark. I feel bad for NOing this, because the overall arrangement and thought are pretty good, but the sound design and lack of dynamic interest are really dragging it down for me. NO

Beautiful, rich interpretation of the source material. Clearly written and performed by someone passionate about the work, which is odd given that it's a lesser-known track off the OST. It's a little simpler than other Bluelighter mixes I recall, but there's certainly enough depth to hold up. YES

Frankentrack, indeed. I've been mulling over for this one for quite some time because I didn't know what to make of it. It doesn't sound nearly as disjointed as it ought to, given its backstory, but it definitely goes in quite a variety of directions. But just because I'm having a tough time formulating a description of it, or even an opinion, doesn't mean I can't vote on the merits. And it has plenty of them. It's an achievement of arrangement on several levels, as well as being plenty creative. No reason at all not to give this a YES

Nice synthwave upgrade to a source that doesn't have a lot to it. I found it a tad repetitive, but that's understandable for a mix that's supposed to be mellow, even moreso one that's inspired by trap. Fits the brief, well done. YES

I definitely get the surf rock influence here, even without you having called it out specifically. I have to admit I'm getting a little fatigued with intentionally lo-fi production, but it's not technically a dealbreaker. You can still hear all the parts. The biggest problem is that because the tone is kind of mushy, it makes the track sound more repetitive than it really is. The style works better with lyrics, where a repetitive structure is more natural. Other than that, there's nothing objectionable here. It's a very creative take, executed as intended. YES

Nice tone. The slightly shrill leads began to grate on my nerves by the end of the second main section, and I would have preferred some sort of change there to keep things fresh. The bass blaat noises sound a little bitcrushed. But overall this sounds great and does everything it sets out to do. YES

If this ever passes, I'm pretty sure it will be the most-resubmitted remix in our history. Sadly, I don't think this is the time. The sound palette is still very vanilla, and still sounds like you made it with stock synths from LMMS. FL Studio supports dozens of really great VSTs that can give you richer and more varied sounds. Not that you didn't use a large number of different synths; it seems like it changes leads every couple of measures, but all of them are simple and generic-sounding. I agree with proph about the snares being underwhelming, but I have honestly no idea what he's talking about regarding hats, crashes, and kicks. There are hats used all over the place, keeping the 4/4 time everywhere that isn't a break; cymbals are often used as transitional elements; and the kick has an easily adequate amount of bass. The instruments that aren't leads are mostly pads and sweeps, but I hear perfectly fine amounts of reverb on everything else. I think the arrangement is suitable, and the production isn't bad, but your sample choices are letting you down. Using a hundred basic ones is not going to get you where using a dozen good ones will. Hit up our workshops, either on our forums or on Discord, and get some recommendations for free VSTs, and presets for them that will do what you want. I think this will get you most of the way there. NO

I'll be honest, and this may expose my lack of formal musical training, but like DarkSim, I can't recognize source material at all until 2:13. That's past the halfway mark, which makes this less than 50% source material. And I'm personally glad for that, because it gives me an excuse to not have to evaluate the rest of this. It's certainly interesting sound design, if utterly unpleasant. I would probably pass it if it started at 2:04. But I can't personally call the source "dominant" as-is. NO

Such a crazy source. I could never make up my mind whether I loved it or hated it while playing the game. It's so schizophrenic, but the main hooks are so catchy. And your take on it is much the same, alternating between frenetic riffs and catchy tunes. I honestly don't know how you could have done this arrangement more justice. You took everything iconic about Danger and dialed it up to 11. Unlike proph, I know this track well, so there's no trouble at all figuring out the connections; nearly the whole thing is lifted from the original, if somewhat macerated before you put it into your remix. I agree with Larry that the flute is far too quiet, even ignoring the fact that it's carrying melody there, and the violin is also awfully quiet for having taken the trouble to get a live performance, but otherwise all the production sounds great. Drums and cymbals sound fine to me, and that guitar work is fire. Fantastic job by everyone involved. YES

Yep, this is firing on all cylinders. Fantastic job taking music hardly anyone would ever notice and making a full track out of it. It'll easily sit in the album alongside more well-known tracks from Iwata's games. Great performances, great production, great arrangement. YES

Just what I expect from ThePlasmas. A pretty straightforward but still excellently-executed metal take on the source material. Great work. YES

Yep, classic Tripp piece. Lovely orchestration, but rambling and without a lot of dynamic variation to hold the listener's interest. It's actually kind of impressive to be this monotonous with 5 sources involved. But for listeners who enjoy this sort of thing, there's not much to complain about. YES

This is pretty quiet, especially for a metal mix. I don't quite have to max my volume out to hear it well, but I don't see any compression or limiting going on at all, and there's a good 3dB of headroom discounting the peaks. There's plenty of room for bass in particular; the bass guitar is sitting very high in the the mix, and the kicks are very quiet and thwack-y. Meanwhile, the shrill synths are way high up there, and the lead guitar is also balanced unusually high in the spectrum. The arrangement is a ton of fun, rearranging these two (really three) sources in an eclectic, exciting way. I love me some Castlevania music even on a bad day, and while this isn't the most memorable Metroid music, it works very well here. But I feel like this needs a lot more presence in general and bass in particular to be front page-worthy. Really fill out that soundscape and this'll be in good shape. NO (resubmit)

I have a similar feeling to proph's. I think there's a little more arrangement than he's giving credit for in the first two thirds, but he's right on the money about a lack of humanization in terms of timing and velocity. I'm not normally too picky about piano humanization, but even to my ears there doesn't seem to have been any effort made in this respect. The arrangement in the last third is indeed more creative, but the humanization issues persist. The changes to tempo and timing in the score help to disguise the on-the-beat timing, and pipe organ only has so much potential variation in velocity, but the same issues exist. Great ideas, lots of fun, but the execution still needs to not sound so mechanical. NO

I didn't hear the original submission. My initial impression is that this definitely doesn't seem like a 3-NO remix, so that's a good start. Opens with environmental effects that tastefully interweave melodic elements, great way of establishing tone and source together. Loud bass drop, but I don't hear any clipping. The part with the organ is pretty darn dense, though, and seems slightly distorted. After a couple of minutes of this dark take, it transitions to piano; a smooth transition, but it's a complete tonal change. A minute and a half of this and briefly back to the dark bassy stuff before an environmental ending. I can't say I'm feeling any of proph's crits. I'm not hearing a lot of repetition; each section is at most one slow full loop of the source tune. There's plenty of atmospheric whitespace to add depth without sounding static. The mechanical piano "playing" doesn't bother me much when it's largely a synthetic piece anyway. My one big gripe is that the middle piano section really doesn't go well with the beginning/ending, but the transitions into and out of it are smooth enough that it's not jarring. Overall, it must have been a massive improvement from the first version you submitted. Strong work. YES

Well, this isn't fooling around, right out of the gate! No introduction, just straight into the main hook. So loud and spectrum-full that my moodbar visualizer is almost pure white. Very Gario-like electronica riffs, which is high praise. Then a break for some sped-up Pandora's Palace, harpsichord and all. Cop-out use of static as a transition, then an electronica version of Pandora's palace; it was an odd and unfortunate decision to have a weak transition when only the palette and not the source tune were changed. Then the finale: a hectic mashup of what sounds to me like every track on the source list, an 8-bit breakdown, and a bookend to finish off... or so I thought, until I discovered there were 30 seconds of piano solo at the end, for some reason. There's a lot going on here, but it's pretty much all good. The soundscape is busy as hell, but it's barely muddy at all; there are only a few arps I'm losing, which I think includes the Cyber's World theme, but there's some stereo separation applied to help with that. Tons of sources, but this isn't remotely close to a medley. I think the use of the static transition was a shame, and the piano ending didn't add anything to the piece, but the weaknesses are few. Nice job. YES

Great start, for the first 30 seconds. Rich and melancholy. After that, though, the volume issues start. At 0:34, the first "crunch" hits, and it's overwhelmingly loud and grating. It goes downhill from there, adding more and more layers without doing any EQ or other adjustments, so it steps all over itself. The angry German voice is so loud you can't hear anything past it but drums. So yeah, proph had it right: Conceptually, this is fantastic. It just needs a healthy dose of production work so that everything is audible and clear. NO